As soon as Lyra touched the letter, she knew that it should not exist. It arrived early in the day, when the sky was still dark and cold, carried by a hawk with silver wing tips, like the ones the Moonlight Pack trained. The bird tapped on her window with urgency, as if warning her that its contents needed to be kept secret. Lyra quickly hid the letter inside her coat before anyone entered, but her heart had been beating fast since then.
Now, alone in her locked room, she finally opened the letter. Zack's handwriting was sharp, shaky, as if he wrote it in pain or fear or both.
I didn't notice you before,
but I know how you feel.
If you sense danger coming closer, just leave. Don't fight alone.
The bond isn't a bad thing. Not now.
, Z.
It wasn't romantic. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't even nice.
But it felt real, alive, warm in a way that went deeper than her skin and surrounded her core. A place she'd tried to ignore. A place she didn't want Sebastian, her parents, or the council to ever find. She folded the letter up tightly and held it close to her chest for a short time.
A short time that lasted too long.
Because when she looked up, Sebastian was in the doorway. He didn't knock. He didn't speak. He was just there, his shoulders tense and his eyes filled with something cold and hurt.
Lyra stopped breathing for a second. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough," he said softly. His eyes went to the letter in her hand. "Give it to me."
"No."
The word cut through the air like a blade.
Sebastian gasped. Pain crossed his face, quickly hidden by anger. "It's from him, right? From the wolf who stole what was mine."
Lyra took a step back without thinking. "Sebastian… I was never yours."
The way he flinched made her heart ache. "You were supposed to be mine," he said, his voice tight. "You were promised to me. Fate chose us. Fate doesn't make mistakes."
"It did," she said softly. "And I'm done acting like nothing's happened. I don't feel connected to you anymore."
The truth shocked her, but it felt real, like breathing after being underwater.
Sebastian's jaw tightened. "You're choosing him."
"I'm choosing myself," she said. "And I don't belong with you."
Something inside him broke then, not quietly, but dangerously. His face darkened with twisted anger. "I won't let him have you. I won't let him win."
Before she could react, he spun around quickly and slammed the door with so much force the walls shook. Lyra dropped onto the bed, trembling. She didn't realize it then, but that moment was the beginning of the worst trouble their world would ever experience.
Darkness spread across the land as Sebastian went past Rivendale's border, his anger driving him like a strong flame. The woods seemed to react to him, branches hitting his coat and roots rising up, as if nature knew how angry he was. But he didn't slow his pace. He didn't even notice it.
I don't feel anything for you anymore.
I don't belong to you.
Her words kept going around in his mind, destroying what was left of his pride.
By the time he arrived at the Moonlight Pack's territory, the moon was low and red in the sky. The guards stood up straight as he walked by, noticing how angry he looked. Alpha Nate was waiting in the yard, with frost covering his shoulders.
"You look like someone who has nothing to lose," Nate said.
Sebastian's voice cracked. "You said you knew how to fix things."
Nate walked closer, looking serious and eager. "Not fix. Trade." He pulled out a knife and cut his hand. Blood dripped onto the snow. "Kill Zack before the Blood Moon, and Rivendale is yours. Bryan can be… taken care of."
Sebastian stopped in his tracks.
His father.
His future.
What was rightfully his.
All of it in exchange for one life.
He thought about Lyra holding Zack's letter close to her chest. He thought about the bond glowing on her neck. He thought about fate choosing someone else.
He took the knife, cut his own hand, and grabbed Nate's bleeding hand.
"It's done," he said, his voice empty. "I'll bring you his head."
Blood mixed together. An agreement made. A disaster started.
---
Meanwhile, Lyra rushed through the quiet woods toward the oracle's house. She was breathing rapidly. Her thoughts were jumbled. The bond under her skin felt stronger than ever. She didn't know if she was scared of it, or scared of losing it.
The oracle opened her door, looking worried. "Child, you shouldn't be out here alone."
"I need answers," Lyra said, stepping inside. "The bond… it keeps changing. The council is worried. Sebastian, " Her voice trembled. "Something's wrong with him."
The oracle looked at her silently, then told her to sit down. Shadows appeared as she placed a cold hand on Lyra's head. Smoke rose from the ground, turning into a silver light that floated between them.
"This is what will happen to you," the witch said quietly.
The light shattered into pieces.
Lyra saw visions that shocked her deeply, Zack's dark wolf growling in the snow, Sebastian covered in blood, a red moon rising, and her own body disappearing into silver and shadow next to another person.
She gasped and clutched her chest. "What does that mean?"
The fortune teller paused before she spoke. "If Zack isn't dead before the Blood Moon happens, you and your wolf spirit will be joined with him. Always."
Lyra seemed unsure what that meant. "So we would be,"
"Real partners," the magical woman said quietly. "Not because it was meant to be, but because you changed what was supposed to happen."
Lyra felt like everything was upside down. End Zack's life? End the life of the only one who understood her? The one whose heart sometimes matched hers? Or agree to a link that the gods didn't want, a link so powerful it could ruin everything?
"Why is this happening to me?" she asked quietly, her voice cracking.
Her eyes showed a lot of pain. "It is happening because the gods stepped in. And now everyone must face the results."